HINDS COUNTY BD. OF SUP'RS v. Johnson

977 So. 2d 1193, 2007 WL 2472643
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedSeptember 4, 2007
Docket2006-WC-01297-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 977 So. 2d 1193 (HINDS COUNTY BD. OF SUP'RS v. Johnson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
HINDS COUNTY BD. OF SUP'RS v. Johnson, 977 So. 2d 1193, 2007 WL 2472643 (Mich. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

977 So.2d 1193 (2007)

HINDS COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS and Mississippi Municipal Workers' Compensation Group, Appellants
v.
Jay JOHNSON, Appellee.

No. 2006-WC-01297-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

September 4, 2007.
Rehearing Denied December 11, 2007.

*1195 Robert J. Arnold, Mary Frances Stallings-England, Jackson, attorneys for appellant.

Steven Hiser Funderburg, Jackson, attorney for appellee.

Before LEE, P.J., IRVING, CHANDLER, and ROBERTS, JJ.

ROBERTS, J., for the Court.

SUMMARY OF THE CASE

¶ 1. Jay Johnson was employed as a guard at the Hinds County Detention Center in Raymond, Mississippi. As will be shown, a series of events centered around Johnson's employment culminated in Johnson's loss of consciousness due to a condition known as "sudden death syndrome." Johnson brought a claim for workers' compensation benefits, and an administrative law judge found that Johnson suffered a compensable injury during his employment. Further, the administrative judge found that Johnson was entitled to permanent total disability benefits and that apportionment was inappropriate. The Full Mississippi Workers' Compensation Commission affirmed, as did the Second Judicial District of the Hinds County Circuit Court. Aggrieved, Hinds County appeals and raises four issues, listed verbatim:

A. WHETHER THE CLAIMANT'S SYNCOPE EPISODE ON SEPTEMBER 4, 2002, WAS WORK RELATED.

B. WHETHER, ASSUMING ARGUENDO THAT THE SEPTEMBER 4, 2002 EPISODE IS WORK-RELATED, SUBSTANTIAL EVIDENCE SUPPORTS A FINDING THAT THE EPISODE WAS A TEMPORARY AGGRAVATION.

C. WHETHER, ASSUMING ARGUENDO THE CLAIMANT SUFFERED A PERMANENT DISABILITY RESULTING FROM THE SEPTEMBER 4, 2002, EPISODE, APPORTIONMENT APPLIES, SUBSTANTIALLY REDUCING THE AWARD.

D. WHETHER, ASSUMING ARGUENDO THE SEPTEMBER 4, 2002 EPISODE IS WORK-RELATED, ALL MEDICAL TREATMENT RELATING TO AND SUBSEQUENT TO THE SEPTEMBER 9, 2002, IS COMPENSABLE.

Finding no error, we affirm.

FACTS

¶ 2. In August or September of 2001, Jay Johnson began working as a housing deputy at the Hinds County Detention Center in Raymond, Mississippi. Johnson's duties included supervision of approximately sixty-six prisoners. A series of events involving Johnson's supervision of prisoners led to Johnson's claim for a compensable injury.

¶ 3. The facts of this case indicate that Johnson was threatened by the prisoners. Additionally, Johnson felt as though there was a significant lack of discipline at the Hinds County Detention Center. In November *1196 of 2001, a young inmate was discovered hanging dead in his cell. Shortly afterwards, Johnson began having headaches, stomach problems, and difficulty sleeping.

¶ 4. In March of 2002, Johnson was assigned to the "hole," where, by Johnson's description, the "worst of the worst" inmates were housed. An inmate advised Johnson that the inmate was scared for his life and that his housing unit should be thoroughly searched. That search later revealed a Swiss hunting knife. In August of 2002, prisoners attacked an inmate isolated in protective custody. Those prisoners attempted to rape the inmate and they beat the isolated inmate until he was "unrecognizable." Johnson testified that no one was disciplined as a result of the incident and that he began getting threats from the prisoners under his supervision. According to Johnson, the prisoners threatened that Johnson would suffer the same treatment as the prisoner in isolated protective custody. That is, the prisoners purportedly threatened to beat and rape Johnson. Johnson continued to have headaches and an upset stomach. Also, in August of 2002, an inmate in an adjacent unit approached Johnson and told him that Johnson should "watch his back."

¶ 5. On September 2, 2002, a prisoner approached Johnson and told him that he would like to cut off his "m_____f_____ head and that he would like to kill all Christians." Johnson told the prisoner to back away, but the prisoner came back and indicated that he intended to follow through on his threat. Johnson ordered a "lock down" and the prisoner was subdued. Even so, the prisoner screamed at Johnson under the door. Johnson's supervisor heard the screaming and investigated, but the prisoner berated the lieutenant. The lieutenant told Johnson to enter the cell with him and talk to the belligerent prisoner. When Johnson complied, the prisoner punched Johnson in the face. Johnson wrote up the incident, but nothing happened to the prisoner and the prisoner was not removed from the unit. Johnson was concerned that the other prisoners would feel as though they could attack him without fear of retribution.

¶ 6. On September 4, 2002, Johnson supervised prisoners in "the gang unit." Because of a shortage of guards, the prisoners had not been out of their cells for thirty-six hours. According to Johnson, the prisoners were aware that he had been punched in the face. Johnson testified that they laughed at him and that they were "clowning."

¶ 7. The prisoners were reportedly upset because of certain delays in the process involved with releasing them for their recreation period. When Johnson finally released them and opened the cell doors, the prisoners "rushed" Johnson and crossed the yellow line intended to separate the prisoners and the guards. According to Johnson, the prisoners "descended on [him] screaming. Some of them were thanking me. Some of them . . . were heckling me for what had happened, and I seen a flash of red, and that was it." Johnson lost consciousness.

¶ 8. Johnson was rushed by ambulance to Central Mississippi Medical Center (CMMC) and placed under the care of Dr. Tellis B. Ellis, a cardiologist. Dr. Ellis described Johnson's loss of consciousness as a "sudden onset of syncope."[1] Dr. Ellis ordered an echocardiogram, EKGs, "based on telemetry monitoring,"[2] and standard *1197 blood work. Dr. Ellis found that Johnson had an enlarged heart. Having found such, Dr. Ellis was concerned that Johnson's syncope could have been related to "any possible cardiac arrhythmia." Accordingly, Dr. Ellis ordered a "tilt table test." Dr. Ellis stated that, during a tilt table test, "we place a patient at 75 degrees for about 35 minutes in a standing position to see if we can provoke syncope."

¶ 9. As a result of the tilt table test, Johnson lost consciousness, "had a cardiac arrest," and "sudden death."[3] Dr. Ellis testified that "[t]his is where his heart went into ventricular tachycardia, and he required resuscitation." At that point, Dr. Ellis transferred Johnson to St. Dominic's hospital "to obtain electrophysiological studies on the heart to find out more about what was happening and also to implant an internal defibrillator." Dr. Ellis clarified that it was "a pacemaker defibrillator . . . that monitors the heart's rhythm [and] . . . [i]f the heart goes into a fast tachycardia, potentially lethal tachycardia,[4] then it delivers a[n] . . . electrical shock to the heart." Dr. Ellis also wanted to eliminate the possibility that "coronary artery disease" could be the cause of Johnson's syncope.

¶ 10. A catheterization at ST. Dominic's revealed that Johnson had no blockages, though he did have an enlarged heart. In December of 2002, Dr. Jimmy Lott implanted a combined defibrillator/pacemaker.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 11. On March 13, 2003, Johnson filed his petition to controvert. The County and Mississippi Municipal Workers' Compensation Group denied that Johnson's claim was compensable.

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Bluebook (online)
977 So. 2d 1193, 2007 WL 2472643, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hinds-county-bd-of-suprs-v-johnson-missctapp-2007.